• “Jobs for the boys” as Labor appoints union mates to board of Queensland Building and Construction Commission• Move is a slap in the face for the Queensland construction sector and all homeowners• Union hacks will ensure a return to outdated policies and bloody-minded attitudes that have plagued the building and construction sector for decades

The stacking of the Queensland Building Construction Commission (QBCC) with Labor lackeys by Palaszczuk Government Housing Minister Mick de Brenni was a disgrace and a slap in the face for the state’s construction sector and ordinary homeowners the LNP said today.

LNP Shadow Housing and Public Works Minister Stephen Bennett said the appointment of former State ALP president and ETU boss Dick Williams as chair, and former Minister Robert Schwarten to the QBCC board was unprecedented and a blatant case of jobs for Labor mates.

“De Brenni’s actions are a disgrace and will cost Queenslanders dearly, and still Annastacia Palaszczuk stands by and lets the unions and the factions run this state,” Mr Bennett said.

“The QBCC plays a critical role as the building industry’s regulator, licensing contractors, resolving defective building work disputes and providing insurance to protect ordinary Queensland homeowners from dodgy work and practices.

“The QBCC is not Minister de Brenni’s personal plaything for bestowing jobs to Labor hacks and his union mates.

“Neither Dick Williams or Robert Schwarten have any building and construction industry experience. This is a government run by union thugs for union thugs.

“With the board now stacked with Labor lackeys we can expect the overturn of common sense reforms made by the previous LNP government and a return to outdated policies and bloody-minded attitudes that plagued the building and construction sectors for decades under successive Labor governments.”

Mr Bennett said the return of former Minister Robert Schwarten is particularly disturbing given his key role as the IT Minister who presided over the single biggest failure of public administration in Australia’s history.

“Under Schwarten’s watch, Labor’s health payroll debacle cost Queensland taxpayers more than $1.25 billion with current and former staff still being chased for ‘over-payments’ some six years later,” he said.

“Right to the end of his ministerial career Schwarten denied any responsibility for the payroll debacle, blaming high-paid public servants for the mess – and now he gets a plum gig handed to him by his mate Mick de Brenni.

“There are also serious questions about potential conflicts of interests of other members of de Brenni’s new board – especially their on-going roles in construction sector unions and other union links.